Project Summary/Abstract Firefighters/EMS personnel are vital for public health safety, representing over two million individuals nationally. Because firefighters are required to respond to almost every domestic emergency, there is wide agreement that their health and readiness is of great significance. Furthermore, a broad range of occupational exposures exist that negatively impact the health of firefighters, particularly ther cardiovascular health. In fact, cardiovascular disease (CVD) has historically been the leading cause of line of duty deaths among fire service personnel. The proposed conference will bring together leading fire service researchers, the primary organizations representing the fire service, and key leaders in the fire service community to identify current and future directions for CVD research among firefighters. Objectives include: 1) Identify critical gaps in the research literatue related to physiologic, individual and socio-cultural risk factors for CVD among firefighters for basic research, exploratory data gathering, and efficacy trials; 2) Develop a CVD health model for fire and EMS personnel identifying the key physiologic, individual, socio-cultural and environmental risk factors for CVD among firefighters; 3) Develop testable scientific questions related to CVD in the fire service for future research studies at all levels, and; 4) Identify potential directions for CVD intervention, dissemination and evaluation efforts in the fire service now and in the future.